Last Sunday was a historical day for the USA. A narrow majority finally approved Obama’s healthcare reform. Next to this milestone in American history, I believe this day to be remarkable in another respect as the White House was constantly Twittering as the vote neared.
Of course the White House had some good reasons for sending out all these tweets. Next to Facebook and YouTube, Twitter turns out to be a perfect media to talk directly to the American people. Using Twitter, the White House can send out controlled messages and this 24 hours a day! Since every message is read by thousands of people, it can be considered as the ideal way to mobilize support for the president’s political agenda. The tweets are in fact a logical extension of the earlier campaign strategy of Barak Obama, where the Internet and viral videos were used to spread messages as quickly and thoroughly as possible.
In our own country there recently has been some commotion about the tweets of Open VLD minister, Vincent Van Quickenborne, live and direct from the council of ministers. Although the negative reactions on these tweets from other politicians are understandable, we must admit that Van Quickenborne is in fact just using modern communication. He’s perfectly aware of the advantages of internet media, as they bring the politicians closer to the public.
I think the twittering of the White House during the healthcare vote and the tweets of Vincent Van Quickenborne illustrate a milestone regarding communication. Open and direct communication are becoming a standard and not only politicians but also companies will have to follow this trend. We are entering a world in which social media are taking over whether we like it or not.
By Jasmijn Nomes
Multilingual Business Communication 
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